listening

words do not catch my attention

as perhaps they once did.

my energy is captured

by what is in between those words

and underneath

what’s left unsaid

and overemphasized

the way in which

the words are spoken

the life, death

that breathes meaning into them.

this listening yields an entirely different

narrative–

a story that can weigh and lift

and invite uncertainty

as this mother tongue speaks a language

that few care to take the time and care

to interpret

though ripe with meaning and wisdom

when i can quiet my self,

listening.